The Bombay high court on Wednesday sought the reply of the Union government on a petition filed by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, challenging the constitutional validity of the National Investigation Agency.
Terming the BJP-led Maharashtra government a "total failure", Congress accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of giving clean chits to several tainted ministers.
The Bombay high court Friday asked Maharashtra government whether it had any objection in granting bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast, on medical grounds.
Lt Col Purohit, it is now being reported quoting statements made by officers in the court of inquiry, had actually infiltrated Hindu radical outfit Abhinav Bharat while being posted at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh to snoop in on plans to carry out terror strikes in India.
The National Investigation Agency, which failed to file its reply on a petition challenging its validity and powers to function has sought more time from the Bombay high court to file its reply.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had a telephonic talk with L K Advani today close on the heels of the BJP leader attacking the Mumbai ATS for the treatment meted out to Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.
The Bombay high court on Thursday permitted Sadhvi Pragya Singh, accused in the Malegaon 2008 blast case, to travel by an air-conditioned compartment to attend proceedings in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh in connection with the Sunil Joshi murder case trial.
The Bombay high court ruled out any possibility of granting bail to September 2008 Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court on Monday restrained the National Investigation Agency from interrogating Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in a 2007 murder case of former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Sunil Joshi.
Right-wing organisations are holding a five-day conference at Ramnathi, Goa -- headquarters of the Sanatan Sanstha -- from June 10 to June 14 to draw up a timetable for the "formation of a Hindu nation and protection of Hindutva and Hindu organisations". Sanatan Sanstha had hit headlines in October 2009 for its links with Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, after the death of two people in a scooter bomb blast at Margao on the eve of Diwali.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is mulling taking Swami Aseemanand into custody in connection with its probe in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case after the agency questioned some of the accused belonging to a right wing outfit arrested for allegedly planting bombs in Malegaon in 2008.
Investigative agencies are finally looking at the possibility of a Hindutva terror network. Aseemanand's alleged confession and the earlier arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit have shown the trail of the Hindutva terror network, which has turned the course of investigations into the bombings of Malegaon, Samjhauta Express, Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid bomb blast cases.
Another angle which investigating agencies are seriously probing is Joshi's affiliation with the SIMI. Investigating officers say during his stint with the SIMI, Joshi mingled with them all the time. In fact he had become a part of them and this had started to worry his group members.
The CBI says Kalsangra, an Abhinav Bharat activist, was introduced to Gupta by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Sunil Joshi. Kalsangra's role becomes crucial since all the accused who are in custody have told their interrogators that he was the man who planted the bomb at Malegaon
Investigators probing the acts of terror allegedly carried out by right-wing groups at Malegaon, Ajmer and Hyderabad are now looking for one Swami Aseemanand and his accomplice.The police have been looking for Swami Aseemanand since the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in October 2009 in connection with the Malegaon blasts. The ATS had picked up incriminating intercepts of his conversation with the Sadhvi.
In her petition filed before the high court, Thakur, who is currently lodged in the Byculla jail in Mumbai, said she is ready to incur the cost of both rail and/or air fare if there is any technical or procedural hitch in the same, as her safety and security is paramount.
Deshmukh said there is a law making it compulsory to have signboards in Marathi along with other languages and give priority to locals. However, these laws were not implemented properly, he added.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up on Monday an appeal filed by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, key accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case, challenging her prosecution under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
'Many BJP MLAs and ministers tell us the police does not listen to them.'
Seven accused in the Malegaon blast case, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, were today remanded in judicial custody till December 3 by a MCOCA court.
Pragya will undergo brain-mapping, polygraph and lie detector tests at Forensic Science Laboratory in suburban Santa Cruz, ATS Director Rukmani Krishnamurthy said. The Nashik court had permitted the ATS to conduct these psychological tests on Sadhvi.
The Maharashtra Anti-terror Squad made a very important arrest in the Malegaon blast case late Monday night. Praveen Muthalik, who is said to be one of the executors of the blast was arrested and later remanded in police custody till February 14. He had been absconding for nearly two years.
Sadhvi Pragya's statements will be crucial to the Malegaon investigation. Her advocate Ganesh Sovani, however, points out that they have not decided as of yet to challenge CBI's re-investigation of the case.
All the 11 accused in Malegaon blast case, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, were today remanded to judicial custody till January 20 by a special MCOCA court here.
The court transferred the custody of Samir Kulkarni, an accused in the case and one of the co-founders of right-wing group Abhinav Bharat, to the Madhya Pradesh police.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who has kicked up a storm over his remarks on slain top cop Hement Karkare, on Sunday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party, maintaining that the Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad chief's life was under threat and the opposition lent its support to Hindu radical groups.
The EC takes action for her remarks on former anti-terror squad chief Hemant Karkare and Babri mosque demolition
The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court on Tuesday remanded Ajay Rahirkar, accused in the September 29 Malegaon blast and the treasurer of right wing group Abhinav Bharat, to police custody till December 20. Eight other accused including prime accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur were sent to judicial custody till December 29. The prosecution had sought Rahirkar's custody on the grounds that Rahirkar transferred funds from Abhinav Bharat's treasury.
Former union law minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley has questioned the intention of the Centre in communalising the situation arising out of Malegoan blasts.
Throwing its weight behind the Malegaon blast accused, including sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a group of advocates in Sonepat have set up a 17-member lawyers committee to provide legal assistance to them. The Hindu Unification Movement Legal and Welfare Association will provide legal assistance to the sadhvi and other accused, according to Bhupeshwar Dayal Gaur, a founder-member of the association.
Charging the Centre with appeasing minorities for electoral gains, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Saturday called for a nationwide agitation to highlight the 'oppression of Hindus'."On one hand, the government is not executing death sentence to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and on the other it is torturing an innocent person like Sadhvi Pragya Singh, who has been falsely implicated in the Malegaon blast case," VHP leader Venkatesh Abdev said.
Dr Ram Puniyani, member of the EKTA, Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai, speaks about the arrests of Muslim youth in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad is considering pressing charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against all the nine accused in the Malegaon blast case, including Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.The ATS is investigating transfer of funds from the bank account of Lt. Col. Purohit, the first serving army officer to be arrested in the case, to Rahirkar and others for execution of the alleged conspiracy.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad of the Mumbai police suffered a major setback last week, when charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and nine other accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, were dropped by the special court's designated Judge Y B Shinde.Dropping MCOCA charges against the prime accused in the Malegaon blast case has definitely made the prosecution's task tougher.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Wednesday arrested Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit in connection with the September 29 Malegaon blasts, an ATS official said. Purohit was interrogated two days ago by the ATS in connection with the blasts in Malegaon and was arrested today, Additional Commissioner of Police (ATS) Parambir Singh said. Singh, however, refused to reveal Purohit's role in the blasts.
"Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad must explain as to why Riyaz Bhatkal, an accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts, and who is allegedly involved in a series of recent blasts all over the country has not been put to narco tests," Prasad charged.
Nashik-based Bhonsalal Military School (BMS) on Friday said no meeting took place in the institution among retired major Ramesh Shivji Upadhyay, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and a serving lieutanant Colonel, who have been interrogated in connection with the Malegaon blasts.
Shooters of underworld don Chhota Shakeel gang were targeting not only the lawyer of Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Varun Gandhi but also the advocates of right wing Hindu activist Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is the prime accused in the Malegaon blasts case. "Our probe revealed that they (the shooters of Chhota Shakeel gang) wanted to eliminate lawyers of Pragya Thakur," said sources in the Mumbai Crime Branch.
The Bombay High Court on Friday rejected the plea of 2008 Malegaon blast case prime accused sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur for liberty observing that no case had been made out for granting bail.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on Tuesday approached the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court seeking home food alleging that she is being served non-vegetarian food in the prison.
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